Our Political Beginnings

Big IdeaThe English tradition of ordered, limited, and representative government served as the basis of colonial governments.

What do you knowWith you neighbor please discuss and brainstorm what you already know about the Revolutionary Period.

K L W

How do we start?• The colonist brought with them a rich

political tradition• Specifically• Magna Carta• English Petition of Rights• English Bill of Rights

Magna Carta• King John: 1215• Limited power of

government• Monarch's power could

be limited by citizens• Fundamental Rights• Trial by jury• Due Process of Law

English Petition of Rights• Early document supporting the idea

that men have rights and establishing the concept of rule of law

• Included basic rights• trial by jury• Protection against marshal law• protection from quartering of troops• Protection of private property

English Bill of Rights• Limited power of the

monarch• no standing army in

peacetime• Free Elections• Rights of petition• Parliamentary checks

on power

Vocabulary to know• Bicameral:• consisting of two houses, as in a legislature

• Unicameral:• consisting of one house, as in a legislature

• Limited Government:• the idea that government is not all powerful

Who am I...In your groups I will give you clues and you will have to guess the name of the person from the clues

Write the name on your white board and hold it up

make sure no one sees your guess

Who is this person

John Locke 1st President of the United States and President of the Continental Congress

George Washington

George Mason

Ben Franklin

Wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights

John Adams

2nd President of the United States & a founding father

Rousseau

Thomas Hobbes

Sam Adams

Believed that people were wicked and the government must be strong to control them

Oldest member of the 2nd Continental Congress

George Washington

Ben Franklin

Sam Adams

James Madison

Leaders of the Sons of Liberty

John Jay

John Locke

Wrote Two Treatises of Government: Life, Liberty and Property

Rousseau

John Adams

Argued that sovereignty should be in the hands of the people

Thomas Jefferson

John Jay

Helped to write the federalist papers Pres of the Continental Congress

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Hobbes

Wrote the Dec. of Independence. 3rd President of the US

James Madison

George Mason Known as the Father of the Constitution